Er Ya continued to coax Qian Lu: "But what can we do? We want to eat fish but there is none. If there were fish, we could ask Mother to make the exact same fish."

Upon hearing this, Qian Lu thought, "Fish? That's easy. He simply called someone and asked them to go to the market and buy a fish."

Er Ya thought to herself, "This won't do. Why isn't Brother Qian Lu falling for my tricks today? Doesn't he usually seem pretty silly?"

Then she continued, "Brother Qian Lu, you've been working so hard all day. Why don't we go shopping together? I know how to pick fish, I promise I'll pick the freshest and tastiest one for you."

Qian Lu then realized that this little girl actually wanted to go out and play. She was so cunning. Oh well, he was too magnanimous to hold a grudge against her for making fun of him for not getting any fish. He reluctantly agreed to go for a walk with her.

After giving instructions in the kitchen, Jiang's mother was about to leave when she quickly stopped her daughter: "You can't let Xiao Lu spend money when you go out. It's not easy for him to earn money. He has to take on the responsibility of running this restaurant at such a young age. Buy whatever you want. I'll give you some money." She then handed her five yuan, told her to be careful with it, and went back to her work.

Finally able to go out, Er Ya grabbed Qian Lu and rushed straight to the market. It was almost noon, and she was worried that the pig offal might be sold off. She was thinking of using it to do business. Thinking about modern braised pork intestines, stir-fried pork kidneys, and bandit-style pig liver, her mouth watered, and she ran even faster.

When the two of them arrived at the meat stall, panting, thankfully, the pig offal was still lying on the ground. Er Ya quickly said, "Uncle, how much is this pig offal? I'll take it."

The butcher looked up and saw it was the girl again. He asked, "Did you finish the ones you bought last time? This stuff smells so bad, even the poorest person couldn't stand eating this every day."

Er Ya said pitifully, "Uncle, my grandma is sick and keeps asking for meat. We can't afford meat every meal, so we can only buy some cheap pork offal."

When the butcher heard how pitiful and sensible the girl was, his heart softened: "Anyway, I was selling this as part of the meat sale anyway, so why don't I give you this one for free? Take it and eat it."

Er Ya repeatedly declined, saying, "No, Uncle. You make a living from this too. How can I let you give it to me? Just sell it to me at the price. I might start ordering pig offal from you regularly in the future."

Seeing that the girl insisted on paying, he could only accept two cents and put the waste into Er Ya's basket.

Qian Lu, who had never smelled this before, almost threw up. What was this thing? It stank so badly.

Seeing Er Ya's delighted expression, as if she had found money, Qian Lu pinched his nose and asked, "Er Ya, what do you want this for? It smells so bad, even a dog wouldn't eat it."

Er Ya rolled her eyes at him and said, "What do you know? This is a rare delicacy. You'll know once you make it."

What? I have to eat this myself? I absolutely refuse to eat it! Am I not good enough to Er Ya? Why is she making me eat such stinky stuff?

She glared at Er Ya like a resentful woman, regretting that she had even wanted to befriend her as her elder brother. How could she treat her younger brother like that?

Er Ya was baffled. What was wrong with this child? Why was he looking at her like that? She ignored him and went to buy some eggs when she saw one. They were one cent each, and she bought fifty. Now that things were a little better, she couldn't skimp on herself. She didn't want to grow up to be a shorty because of malnutrition.

Carrying the water on her back and a basket in her hand, she turned to look at Qian Lu: Brother Qian Lu really has no sense of propriety. Didn't he see that she could barely carry it? If my little brother were here, he definitely wouldn't want to carry so much stuff himself.

She glared at him a few times, and seeing that Qian Lu still didn't understand what she meant, she sighed. "Sigh~ To avoid getting hurt, I'd better be direct: 'Brother Qian Lu, can you help me? This is so heavy, it's making Er Ya not grow taller.'"

Qian Lu stepped forward to take the basket, but Er Ya immediately put it on the ground for him. She was joking, because although the food tasted good when cooked, it was indeed very smelly when raw. She picked up the small basket and called out, "Brother Qian Lu, come quick! Let's go buy fish!" and then swaggered away.

Qian Lu struggled with his thoughts for a long time before finally picking up his basket and chasing after Er Ya.

I bought a fish that weighed seven or eight pounds, and with that, I was all set to go back to the restaurant.

Qian Lu put the basket down on the ground as soon as he got back and ran to take a bath. He washed himself several times, but he still felt smelly. "Er Ya! I hate you so much!"

Er Ya ignored him and skipped off to find Jiang's mother, carrying the fish.

We had sauerkraut fish last night, and Er Ya wanted to try something different today. Er Ya said to Jiang's mother, "Mom, look, we bought a fish. How about we have spicy fish today?"

"Okay, okay, we'll make whatever you want to eat. They happen to have a lot of chili peppers here, so Mom will make you an extra spicy version of spicy fish today."

The fish was cleaned up quickly, and then someone took over the fish to fillet it. It was good to have someone to help. Seeing that there was not enough fish for everyone, Jiang's mother also ordered people to prepare some mushrooms, cabbage, vermicelli, bean sprouts and the like, which could be placed at the bottom of the bowl as side dishes.

Put Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, and scallions in a pot, pour in the secret sauce, and stir-fry until fragrant. Then, just like making pickled fish, fry the fish bones until golden brown on both sides to remove the fishy smell. Add hot water and simmer. In another pot, have someone steam a pot of rice. This will be our main meal for lunch today.

Boil another pot, add the prepared vegetables and cook until done. Transfer them to a large bowl, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and set aside.

Wait for the water to boil for a while, then put the fish fillets in, cook them until done, take them out and put them together with the side dishes. Then pour in oil, add plenty of Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, and Sichuan peppercorn oil, and pour the prepared chili oil over the fish fillets. The spicy fish is ready, and the rice is also cooked.

Dinner was served, and everyone was busy setting out bowls and chopsticks and serving rice. Qian Lu hadn't arrived yet, so Er Ya shouted, "Dinner's ready! The spicy fish is done. If you're late, you won't get any!"

About a minute later, Qian Lu rushed over in a panic, not even dressed properly. He muttered as he buttoned his clothes, "How could you start eating without waiting for me? I did contribute my labor, didn't I?"

Upon seeing the spicy fish on the table, with a layer of steaming white vapor rising from it, everyone present immediately felt the aroma of the fish and the pungent smell of pepper.

Qian Lu disregarded etiquette, picked up the chopsticks from the side of the bowl, and, ignoring the scalding hot water, dipped the chopsticks into the bubbling broth in the bowl. He picked up a piece of tender white fish and put it in his mouth. The fish was fresh and tender, with a smooth and delicate texture, as if it melted in his mouth. It tasted oily but not greasy.

To be continued!